A week ago, yesterday, I woke up at about 3:00 a.m. with a message in my spirit that I was to write about Handling Anger With the Grace of The Lord.  That’s it, no text, just a topic.  Over the course of the week, I have come to learn that this is a very timely subject matter, and there are several people in my circle of love who has laid claim to this article – even before I have written it.  Just about every person I to whom I have spoken in recent days have had to face the grim, bitter, aftertaste of anger. 

Unfortunately for all concerned, I never progressed pass the title until now, because I didn’t know what to write about.  Even now, I don’t know what to write.  

Trying to get a lead-off, I asked the Lord “whose anger, what anger, what’s the point of view that I’m supposed to write about.”   His response to me was, “What do you tell other people to do when they can’t find the right angle or a starting point?”  I said, “Put pen to paper and let it flow – just write whatever comes into your spirit and worry about the format later.”  He said, “Okay then, what’s the problem? Did you put pen to paper?”  “Honestly?” I said, “NO.  Actually, I haven’t even tried.”  Again, He said, “What is the problem?” 

Now, I’m trying, so here goes.                 

God is a master gardener.  He knows enough not to plant seeds in a stony ground.  If he is telling me to plant seeds, the soil has already been prepared.  If the soil has been prepared, he has a purpose.  If God has a purpose, he also has a plan.  I guess God’s plan and his purpose are two the things that I really need to focus on right about now.  God’s purpose is to reconcile us unto himself.  His plan is to bring us to the point of repentance – which is the first step on the road to redemption – that we might be reconciled unto each other, loving one another as he has loved us, that we might be reconciled unto him for all eternity.   We all need to be redeemed because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23-KJV) “As it is written: There is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”  (Romans 3:10 & 11-KJV)

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.”  (1 John 4:7 & 8-KJV).  God is love.  His love is your love, his love is my love, his love is our love.  However, because God is a spirit, he cannot physically nurture the full entity of our being – body, soul and spirit.  That is why he created others in a like image to fill that physical void. 

The family was created as God’s surrogate to meet and satisfy those needs.    Is it any wonder, then, that the greatest source of anger emanates from the family structure?  Absolutely not!  Somewhere in time, we have lost sight of the purpose for the family.  We as a society have alienated, separated, castrated, disseminated, and disintegrated the family circle.  Adoption, abortion, divorce, gay-rights, contraceptives, and women’s lib are the pallbearers of the coffin that carried the mangled remains of family life.  Science has engraved the headstone with artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, and human cloning will seal the tomb.  No matter how noteworthy all these modern-day beliefs and medical fix-me-ups are, they all fall short in some way, because either they affect the cycle of life or they alter the genetic blueprint of the family structure.

By now, you might be wondering what bearing do the aforementioned elements have on this subject.  Simple, they all emanate from a rebellious spirit – the spirit of anger.  You do not have to be a religious fanatic or a spiritual guru to see that this is the Devil’s doomsday formula –  first separate man from God, then eliminate the family and others around you, and,  finally, destroy yourself.   Scripture tells us that no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.  The devil knows that.  Remember he was once a heavenly being.  That is why he uses anger as a fuel to ignite an internal combustion.  Anger gradually destroys you, and those around you without you even being aware that you are being destroyed.  O boy, I know we’re threading in deep waters here, but please don’t leave me now.  I know this has a point – I don’t know where it is going, but I know that it is going . . . so please, stick with me.

I told you that I was threading in deep waters.  As I wrote the last phrase: stick with me, my computer froze, and I got kicked out of the program.  Even as I type this, there is still that message box on my screen about an illegal operation.  I guess now is a good time for me to tell you that THE DEVIL IS STILL A LIAR, AND GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL.

Evil deeds and spiritual interruptions notwithstanding, I will keep pressing forward toward the mark of the prize of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus.  In fact, I had to rename the document, because even though the file was restored through the backup feature, I lost six pages of the 14-page document, no idea why, since I have automatic back up after five minutes, and the system would not permit me to save it under the previous name, Handling Anger with the Grace of the Lord, so this file is now called GRACE.

As you can see, I’ve become very adept at switching places in midstream.   All I can say is years of experience.  There are days when I feel like I am in a struggle with the spirit.  Many times, I face conflict with the responsibilities of my daily living, my family and my job, and my walk with Christ, because try as I might, I can’t seem to keep them apart.  Sometimes, I am forewarned, as is the earlier instance, and sometimes I am left to my own devices to maneuver the course.  So, I guess flow is a good way to describe what I do when I write because I have to release myself and let the spirit guide me. Sometimes, I have to take a physical break to follow the prompting, because it is so strong.   This is one of those times, when I have had to switch without warning.

When I started writing this on Saturday morning, I got what I call chicken feed – a lot of mixed emotions.  I was writing in anger – my anger.  I was angry at something that had happened earlier that in essence became the springboard for me to put pen to paper.  I kept hearing my own words being replayed like an all-day movie ticket in my mind – nobody is perfect, but God still calls them all his own.   I chuckled half-heartedly and breathed under my breath, “God, you never cease to amaze me.” 

The message stuck with me because it was the context of a poem I had written previously. I had also written that poem in anger; it came to me as I was sitting at my desk mulling over the day’s events when a wave of anger welled up in my spirit.  I felt that “my position on this job is a futile effort to keep me gainfully employed, because I don’t see any benefit to my being here.”  After all, from where I was sitting, nothing I did seem to make a difference.  I did everything right, and yet I was always wrong.   Moreover, I was becoming very despondent, because for one thing, I couldn’t figure out a way to resolve the particular event that led me to this point.  As I sat there, I started seeing and hearing past occurrences wherein “I felt that others had wronged me in some way.” 

Wow – this is intense. 

In a very subconscious round-about way, I was exhibiting anger – not about anyone or anything in particular – just because I was frustrated with the world that I live in, the people with whom I live, work, commute with, and people in general.   If the truth is to be made known, I was really angry because for the life of me, I could not understand why everyone seemed so dumbfounded about life – as a whole.   That is when the spirit said to me, “It couldn’t have been any easier for Christ, after all they crucified him.” That statement stumped me and brought me to a new and very conscious level of awareness, because earlier in the day I had told one of my co-workers that I felt like Christ on the cross.  When I heard that message, it calmed my spirit for a moment, but then I became even more angry because that was really my struggle. Then I heard, “For the most part everyone was rejecting his offer for salvation – while feasting on day-old bread, but he never gave up on them – and neither can you.”   That’s when I grabbed my notebook, put pen to paper, and let the spirit move me.  The result was God Still Calls Them All His Own.  After I finished writing the poem, I felt so much better, because I understood that I was given the power of God’s redeeming grace, and that I should use this gift to help others change their lives – because God still calls them all his own.